Cigarette-former.



H. E. ROBINSON.

CIGARETTE FORMER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.10,1909.

Patented May 31,1910.

attocnmg GRAHAM c0. FHDTOLITHOGRAPH FICE.

HARRY E. ROBINSON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

CIGARETTE-FORMER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY E. ROBINSON, a citizen of the United States,residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,have invented new and useful Improvements in Cigarette-Formers, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to cigarette formers, the object of the inventionbeing to produce a simple and practical device of the class describedadapted to be carried in the pocket and to be associated and connectedwith a bag or pouch of tobacco and remain connected with such bag orpouch until the entire contents thereof has been used in the formationof cigarettes.

A further object of the invention is to provide a simple and practicaldevice for cutting off the flow of tobacco through the former.

IVith the above general object in view, the nature of which will morefully appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in thenovel construction, combination and arrangement of parts as herein fullydescribed, illustrated and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings :--Figure 1 is a vertical diametricalsection through a cigarette former embodying the present invention,showing a. tobacco bag or pouch in dotted lines associated with theformer. Fig. 2 is a cross section on an enlarged scale taken on the line22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective View of a spring closedcut'ofi, showing the out OK and the spring. Fig. 4 is a detailperspective view of the spring per se.

The cigarette former consists of a tube 1 which may be either perfectlycylindrical or made slightly tapering and in the preferred embodiment ofthe invention the discharge end of said tubular former is slightlycontracted or constricted as shown at 2 which facilitates the removal ofthe paper from the former as the cigarette is being filled. At itsreceiving end the tubular former 1 is provided with an enlarged flaringfunnel shaped mouth 3 which is adapted to be inserted in the mouth of abag or pouch of tobacco indicated by dotted lines at 4 in Fig. 1, theformer being wedged outwardly Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 10, 1909.

Patented May 31, 1910. Serial No. 482,424.

as shown at 5 to form a bead or flange to facilitate securing the mouthof the bag around the mouth of the former, it being designed to leavethe former and bag connected until the contents of the bag has beencompletely used. Adjacent to the junction of the tubular former 1 withthe mouth 3, said tube is provided in one side with a slide adapted toreceive a disk-shaped cut off 6 which is movable through such slide in aplane perpendicular to the length of the tube 1.

7 designates a spring, one end of which is connected as shown at 8 tothe disk-shaped cut off 6, said cut off being provided for that purposewith a depending flange 9 to which the end of the spring is secured. Amarginal edge of the cut off is also cut away as shown at 10 to conformto the inner curvature of the tube 1 and in order to provide limitingshoulders 11 which limit the inward movement of the cut ofl. The flange9 is bent outward as shown at 12 to form a finger or thumb piece whichwill adapt the cut off to be moved outward through the slide in thepouch and against the tension of the spring 7 in order to permit thetobacco to gravitate down the tobacco former 1. Upon releasing the cutoff the latter is automatically closed or carried to the position shownin Figs. 1 and 2 by means of the spring 7 which embraces the tube 1 byextending part way around the outside thereof as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

The cigarette paper is first wrapped around the tubular former 1 and thelower end thereof is pinched or closed in any con venient manner. Thecut ofi 6 is then opened to allow the tobacco to pass down the tube 1.At the same time the paper is withdrawn from the tube 1 and just beforeeffecting the complete withdrawal of the paper, the cut off 6 is allowedto close, thus preventing the outflow of any more tobacco. Afterremoving the cigarette from the former, the former may be inverted andthe tobacco may be allowed to run back into the bag or pouch 4 by againopening the cut off 6.

In the use of the cigarette former hereinabove described, a veryconsiderable saving of tobacco is effected as compared with the usualmanner of forming cigarettes by rollperpendicular to the length of theforming 10 ing the tobacco in papers held by the fingers. tube and anoperating thumb piece for said I claim cutoff.

A cigarette former comprising a forming In testimony whereof I affix mysignature tube having a funnel-shaped receiving mouth in presence of twowitnesses.

and provided adjacent to the junction of the HARRY E. ROBINSON. tube andmouth with a slot in the side of the Witnesses: tube, a spring closedout OK in the form of a T. S. P. MILLER,

disk movable through said slot in a plane ESTELLE R. CARGEL.

